4of4Scorpions Omar Cummings drives between Ottawa defenders during the first half of their match Saturday at Toyota Field.Photo: Robin Jerstad, freelance / San Antonio Express-News

A season of squandered opportunities continued Saturday at Toyota, where the last-place Scorpions continued their Groundhog Day ways with another good-but-not-good-enough performance.

Crippled by Zourab Tsiskaridze’s ill-advised challenge to earn a second yellow card late in the first half, the Scorpions battled fall-leading Ottawa before falling 1-0.

The Fury had just one shot on goal, and they made it count thanks to Oliver’s point-blank header in the 52nd minute.

The Scorpions almost equalized on two instances, with a long-range blast from Omar Cummings and a shot from Cesar Elizondo that ricocheted dangerously around the box. Both were agonizingly wide, microcosms of a difficult season in which the Scorpions have been unable to string more than three positive results together.

They could have matched that modest stretch Saturday, needing a victory to stay within six points of fourth-place Tampa Bay with a match in hand.

The first chance came in the 18th, when Scorpions striker Omar Cummings — completely unmarked — flubbed a tantalizing opportunity from the penalty spot.

Then came the decisive moment of the match. Already playing with a yellow, Zourab Tsiskaridze went in for a rash challenge that left Ottawa midfielder Mauro Eustaquio rolling on the turf.

Tsiskaridze protested the ensuing caution vehemently, stripping off his jersey and throwing it defiantly on the turf as he stalked to the talking point. But the fact that Scorpions manager Alen Marcina — never one to miss an opportunity to chastise match officials — didn’t protest spoke volumes, as did his post-match comments.

“No excuses, it shouldn’t have happened,” he said. “It was a lapse by Z. You can’t make that challenge. It hurt the team. He’ll understand he made a mistake and learn from it.”

The start of the second half started out perfectly for Ottawa as the early goal allowed them to sit back and grind out its three points.

The Scorpions nearly squandered that effort, but were forced to fall back on a familiar refrain after coming up short — there’s always the next match.

“We have 10 games left, so there are still 30 points to play for, and the good thing is we play on Wednesday (against Carolina at Toyota),” defender Brad Rusin said. “Hopefully we play with 11 men.”

McCarney was an undrafted free agent out of Mankato State (Minn.) when he signed for the league minimum with the Laredo Morning Times in 1996. He earned his call-up to the San Antonio Express-News in 2000, paying his dues in the high school ranks before covering UTSA and, beginning this season, the Spurs, allowing him to write about his favorite sport and take orders from Jeff McDonald and Mike Monroe. McCarney also covers the Scorpions, where he gets his fix for the Beautiful Game.